IADL files important Amicus Brief in Cuban Five case

On January 30, 2009, the lawyers for the Cuban 5 filed a petition in the United States Supreme Court for review of the decisions of the 11th Circuit Court of appeals to uphold the convictions of the 5. The Supreme Court only hears a few cases each year so the lawyers sought and received significant support for their petition from groups all over the world in the form of Amicus or “Friend of the Court” briefs. On March 6 an unprecedented number of amicus briefs were submitted to the Court in support of the petition.

Twelve briefs were filed in all including those from Nobel Laureates and parliamentarians. IADL submitted a brief in its name and in the names of AAJ, Droit Solidarite, the Haldane Society, the Indian Association of Lawyers, the Italian Association of Democratic Lawyers, JALISA, the Portuguese Association, the National Union of People’s Lawyers of the Philippines and the Progress Lawyers Network from Belgium.

The Brief addressed again the failure of the 5 to receive a fair trial in Miami. IADL’s brief is below. All the briefs may be veiwed on the Free the Five website. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the petition before it closes its session at the end of June this year. If no decision is rendered the Court will address the matter when it resumes in October. If the Court grants the petition the case will move on to oral argument and decision. If the Court does not grant the petition the case in the Courts will be over but the political battle to win the freedom for the 5 will continue.